Saturday, November 3, 2007

The wait is over. After enjoying a super-successful stint of 10 weeks at the box office, Sajid Khan directorial, Heyy Babyy would be available for your Home Video collection. Coming November 6, the Special Edition 2 DVD packs of Sajid Nadiadwala produced Heyy Babyy would be brought to the stands by Eros International.

Duration of DVDWhat clearly stands out from close to 6 hours of viewing is the content, which is clearly the King here! And by content, it is not meant just the film (which times a little above 2 hours) but around 4 hours of special features, which have never ever been witnessed in an Indian film DVD.

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-LoyMAKING OF THE BABYOne can clearly see that Sajid Khan has painstakingly ensured that he gives his best to the product from the very beginning till the end. That is visible from the film's making, aptly titled 'Making of the Baby’, which is clearly a by-product of some excellent planning by people associated with it and led by the director. How exactly? Well, believe it or not but the entire shooting of the film has been compressed into four hours with Sajid Khan taking a viewer through each of the 73 days (yes, each of the days) of shooting in a chronological order.

Shot with a hand held camera which follows Sajid and his crew all through the shooting, whether it is Bollywood's own studios or make-shift sets or outdoors of Australia or the real pubs in Brisbane, the documentary makes for an engrossing viewing. It follows the 3Es - Education, Enlightenment and Entertainment at every stage of the four-hour making.

It is fun to watch the baby in the film being pampered by all possible means just to get the right shots. While the camera is focused on the baby, somewhere in the background the cast and crewmembers are shown to be trying all the tricks in the book to make happy. Whether it is done by all clapping in unison or making funny faces or in some instances even holding up a dog and diverting the baby's attention - everything possible under the sun is done to get the right shot; and well also race against the time!

Also funny is a particular scene where Fardeen Khan is shown dubbing for his famous 'soiled diaper flying towards him and instead sticking on Akshay's face'. While the actual scene had him standing and waiting for a disaster to happen, in the dubbing studio he does it while stationed on a couch and stretching his arms in air and dubbing to get the right intensity and fear. Another scene to be watched out for is the making of the Matrix like action sequence, which had a dozen of odd air borne kids giving flying kicks and punches to Ritiesh's Eddy Teddy character. The kind of precautions taken while keeping the children mid air and making them do numerous takes makes an entertaining watch.

While dozens of scenes like these have been captured during the making of the film, the area where the documentary clearly stands out is from it's education quotient. Though 99% of DVDs focus mainly on some deleted scenes and standard canned interviews with cast and crew of the film, in the case of Heyy Babyy, the DVD also acts as a tool of education for a student of cinema and something to ponder over for an average man on street who just gets to see the final product.

For those who follow cinema and look at it as a career option, the DVD is a must as it takes you through all the stages of film production. Sajid takes the camera right into the production office where he captures the talks around finalizing on the film's budget, locations where the film would be shot, conversations around art direction, joint script reading with the principal star cast and constant improvisations.

He introduces the film to the audience, talks about how he learnt the entire film making process through watching DVDs without assisting any other filmmaker and how he has paid homage to numerous filmmakers in the journey that he took for making Heyy Babyy. The audience is taken through an elaborate pre-production followed by the actual shooting and later post-production. For someone who wants to look deeply into how an entire film is made, it is criminal to ignore the DVD which gives a large account of costume trials, song recording, set designing, editing, dubbing, track laying, Dolby mixing and the D-day - the release of the film!

DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY

Rarely any films, which come from Bollywood, is accompanied by another version carries a director's commentary. This makes Heyy Babyy further special as Sajid Khan talks about the film (mostly non-stop) throughout it's 139 minutes duration. One expects an honest approach about scene by scene commentary which doesn't fall in the trap of being pompous but instead educates a viewer about how a scene was conceptualized, what improvisations took place on sets and what all did the actors and the crew do in front of the camera to make the shot a reality. Of course the fun element is very much a part of the package as Sajid's commentary keeps you thoroughly engaged with the proceedings.

Following are some of the many interesting tales told during the commentary. Some of them real facts; some stated in a lighter vein:

* What prompted Sajid to make Heyy Babyy?

* How post-love making positions were designed for Akshay, Fardeen and Reitesh in one of the opening scenes.

* How a doll was used (that too in full view) instead of a real baby for number of shots?

* How Fardeen and Reitesh never felt that Akshay was cutting into their roles?

* What was the story behind the sexy female who attempts to seduce Akshay on his visit to India?

* How a blooper like BPL network flashing on a Sydney location go unnoticed?

* What made dialogue writer Milap Jhaveri angry on the sets?

* How the actors laughed at and then improvised on the dialogues written for them?

* How the game of Foosball kept all the actors together?

* How Jesus and the three Shepherds legend was interpreted for Heyy Babyy?

* What prompted Akshay to come up with real tears in the famous hospital sequence?

* Why Sajid-Wajid were not chosen as the composers?

* How Sajid wrote a scene after being inspired by a real life incident in the life of Arbaaz Khan?

* What made Sajid Khan angry when someone suggested a title 'Kunware Baap' and he threw away the script?

* How did the soiled diaper fall on Akshay's face which was instead planned for Fardeen?

* How a baby kept changing in every alternate shot for the famous departmental store sequence - 'Kitni Badi Hai Aapki Baby'?

While there are quite a few bloopers in the film, Sajid Khan comments on record, "When I can make fun of other films, it is just right to do so for my film too. Yes, there are some goof-ups but come on, this is my first film!" On an serious note, he also adds, "For a first timer, whoever he or she is, it is always difficult to make people take you seriously. Till the time you are not successful, even if you sell them gold, they will think it is sh#$. It is only once you are successful, both critically and commercially, which Heyy Babyy thankfully is, you are taken seriously."

TECHNICAL DETAILS

While the 2 DVD set in itself is a treat due to sheer information and entertainment value, even technically it is a delight since for the first time in India, a film has been 'Re-mastered in High Definition' for home viewing. This means world-class picture and sound quality (available on both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo) which has been enhanced to give a theater like experience in the comfort of your living room. While razor sharp images and precise sound catches your attention even on a regular flat screen TV, the effect is enhanced as the size of the screen increases and the film is experienced on a home theater system.

Add on Heyy Babyy to your collection. It is a MUST BUY for those who want to experience the 3Es - Education, Enlightenment and Entertainment!